


There Will Come a Time When You Think You're Happy...

by WhiteravenGreywolf



Series: If I stay [42]
Category: Captain Marvel (2019), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Captain Marvel to the Rescue, F/F, INFINITY WAR SPOILER, Or not...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-01-31 18:34:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18597076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteravenGreywolf/pseuds/WhiteravenGreywolf
Summary: Carol is anxious. Talos just called her, and he lost contact with Xandar a few days ago. What if the Krees have betrayed the peace treaty? What if something much much worst than the Krees?





	There Will Come a Time When You Think You're Happy...

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So, today's the big day (in the US anyway)  
> It's also the day of the beginning of my hiatus, so this series is taking a break from its daily updates. I'll see you back on the 5th of May at the earliest. Once again I ask you to please do not post any spoilers for Endgame in the comments of my stories, I won't even be able to delete them because you can't delete something with your eyes closed!  
> Other than that, thank you, everyone, for following this series so faithfully through its ups and downs, and I hope to see all of you back in May!

Carol was flying as fast her powers would allow her through the darkness of space. Stars shone light-years away, but they seemed insignificant compared to the brightness of Carol's powers. As she picked up speed, the light seemed to bend around her. She blinked in the sky of all the planets she passed, a sudden lens flare in the sky before she disappeared completely again.

  
She was worried. Even if she tried to brush it aside, her heart was hammering in her ears, louder than her thoughts. She'd received a call from Talos. He had lost contact with their Skrulls ambassadors in Xandar. Xandar itself wasn't answering anymore. Carol had tried to call Nova Prime. She'd tried to call the Nova Corps. No one had answered her calls. This was unusual. She hadn't received anything from them either. No distress signal, nothing.

  
If the Krees had gone back on their words and betrayed the peace treaty. If they had attacked Xandar like they had attacked the Skrulls before. She would have a lot of Avenging to do. She pushed herself further. Xandar was almost in sight.

  
However, when she approached Xandar, she was shocked to find that it didn't look anything like she remembered it. The mostly teal and green planet was gray and red. It had a lot to do with the smoke rising into the atmosphere. The sight of the planet alone froze Carol's blood. She flew toward the capital.

  
She emerged through the thick gray clouds with difficulty. She stopped flying completely when she got her first glimpse of the ground. Ruins everywhere. All the tall buildings had been tumbled over and broken down. A fleet of Nova star vessels lay on the ground, scattered into dozens of pieces. Many fires still burned, uncontrolled, fueled by god knows what.

  
Carol felt her heart constrict in her chest. What could have happened here? This wasn't the Krees. If the Kree had sent their Accuser fleet there would have been craters in the ground, not a ruined landscape. What kind of army could have done that?

  
She flew lower to the ground, looking for survivors. She saw many corpses, laying under a blanket when possible, though most of them were still stuck in the debris. Each time she saw a sign of what had been a life before, it was as if a metal chain was being wrapped even more tightly around her chest.

  
She was just about to reach where the Nova Corps headquarters should have been – just a pile of rubbles now, like the rest of the city – when something caught her attention. The corpse of something she'd never seen before, laying impaled on a metal bar. A black monster, with two legs and four arms ending in a sharp set of claws, with dark skin with white outlines. It seemed completely blind, with a giant mouth, filled with pointy teeth.

  
Carol landed beside the creature, checking to make sure it was dead. There were a few others nearby. They had all suffered a massive amount of trauma as if they had taken a lot of pain before it finally killed them. Carol pushed one out of her way with the tip of her shoe and continued toward what she remembered to be the market place. This was where she found most of the survivors.

  
They must have been no more than two hundred, all installed under makeshift tents on the central plaza of the city. Most of them were wounded. There was only a handful of Nova Corps left among them. When Carol approached, they raised their weapons toward her fearfully. She raised her hands and turned off her helmet.

  
"I'm here to help," she said.

  
The soldiers lowered their weapons.

  
"I don't think there's much you can do for us anymore."

  
Carol approached slowly as she lowered her hands.

  
"You can start by telling me what happened here? Did the Kree..."

  
The soldier nearest to her, the highest ranking officer if she remembered the Nova Corps ranking system, shook his head.

  
"It wasn't the Krees. It was Thanos."

  
Carol had not heard that name in a few years. To hear it again froze her blood over.

  
"He came for the stone we had in our vault," he explained. "We didn't have time to send out a distress signal. He had these monsters with him, they're called the outriders. They tore through us like we were nothing."

  
"When did that happen?"

  
"Four days ago."

  
Carol tried to calculate quickly in her mind. Four days ago, and it was morning here. Talos had called her yesterday morning. If Thanos was going to go after the stones as he had always planned, then he was bound to go to Earth. If she could go home now, maybe she could warn them. Or maybe stop by Asgard first. They had the Tesseract after all.

  
"Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked.

  
The soldier shook his head.

  
"We'll get by. But you have to find Thanos. Stop him before it's too late."

  
Carol nodded. She put her helmet back on.

  
"Call to all channels, this is Captain Marvel speaking."

  
She was hoping that maybe she could contact Earth from here, or even Talos, but there was only static on the other side.

  
"Anyone hear me?"

  
Finally, someone picked up.

  
"Carol?"

  
"Talos, do you copy? We have a situation on Xandar. If you..."

  
More static. Then:

  
"Carol? Something's... you have t..."

  
More static.

  
"Talos? Do you copy?"

  
The computer on her wrist came to life. She looked down at it with apprehension. She felt suddenly very ill like she was about to faint. This was Fury's distress beacon. Correction, this was the distress beacon she had given to him two decades ago when she had taken her first trip to space. Why was he using it now? She didn't waste any time. She made sure her computer would take her straight to the source of the beacon, and she took off.

* * *

  
  
To her surprise, the beacon led her straight to the Avengers facility. She didn't remember the facility being so deserted. Even on an off-day, there would be personal. People training. People taking care of maintenance. Scientists, researchers. Even gardeners. There was no one. No one, except a small group of Avengers, united in the debrief room, and Fury's old boosted pager plugged into some sort of machine.

  
"Turn it back on," Steve said. "She'll be back."

  
"She has to," Natasha said before turning around.

  
They all turned around, only to come face to face with Carol, who looked shocked, tired and worried.

  
"Where's Fury?" she asked.

  
Steve and Natasha looked at each other with uncertainty.

  
"Where's Maria?" she continued. "Monica?"

  
Finally, Natasha replied:

  
"You should probably sit down, Carol."

**Author's Note:**

> There will come a time when you think you're happy, and your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth, and you will know the debt is paid...


End file.
